


Discoveries and Reveries

by sprayedwithcrab



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Good Peter, Identity Reveal, Interns & Internships, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter is Not Impressed, Peter-centric, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Secret Identity, The Avengers Are Good Bros, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, and is lowkey disappointed in steve, and thats what matters, but he still tries his hardest too and thats what matters, but hey whats new, if that. wasnt obvious, neither do the avengers, peter has no idea whats coming, steve is kinda an asshole but still tries his hardest, uh clearly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-08-09 01:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16440722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprayedwithcrab/pseuds/sprayedwithcrab
Summary: Peter Parker is Tony Stark's personal intern. Nothing more, nothing less.At least, that's what the two of them are telling everybody.The Avengers immediately know there's something more going on. They're the Avengers for a reason, remember? So they all conclude: Peter isn't just a personal intern, he is also Tony's illegitimate son.Peter is definitelynota fan of this new development.





	1. Bird!

Peter took in a deep breath. He was okay, really! It was simply that the Rogue Avengers were coming back to the tower today, since they'd been pardoned, and Peter was under  _strict_ instructions to not reveal to any of them that he was Spider-man.

And he was totally okay with that! It was just, it was hard enough as it is to keep his identity a secret, and that was with people who weren't expertly trained super spies. So, as one would imagine, he was a little nervous.

He strode towards the entrance with uncertainty, but made sure his pace had an air of purpose to it. Walking in, he saw Marie Labbe, one of the lower level interns at the Tower, and waved. She bounded over to him.

"Hey there, Parker! You've heard that the rest of the Avengers are here now, right? Do you think you could get Captain Rogers to talk to me? I'm just a random intern he wouldn't want to speak to, but you, you're Stark's personal intern! I'm sure you could be able to do that, right? If not, that's okay. But still, please?" Marie had a little sparkle in her eyes. Peter couldn't help but chuckle; almost all of the interns at the tower knew who he was, and would occasionally get him to do certain tasks or favours for them. He didn't mind, of course. Marie had always loved Steve, anyways, so, in reality, the request was to be expected.

"I'll see. It might take a bit, since I'll just be meeting them for the first time, but I'll try my very best." Peter smiled at her.

"Oh, thank you! I don't know how I can repay you, it's always been my dream..." Marie trailed off, shook his hand, and got back to what she had been doing previously. Peter continued to make his way to the private elevator, that would take him up to the restricted-access common areas (which was fine, since he had an all-access security clearance). When he entered the lift, Friday greeted him.

"Hello, Mr. Parker. Boss is currently on floor 69. Would you like me to take you to that level?" Peter nodded and replied affirmative, and then quietly snickered to himself about the floor number.

* * *

"Okay, so this is level we should all be staying on, for the most part?" Steve inquired, making sure he was getting the correct information and was not misinterpreting it.

"Yup. Aside from when you sleep, for which you'll go to the floor that your rooms are on, I think that for the time being you should stay here. And, if you go out, wear a disguise of some sort. While most of the general public is cool with you all, there's quite a large subsection that are  _not_ , and I'd rather you all don't cause too much of a commotion." Tony was laying out the ground rules. He wasn't 100% ready to forgive the team for everything just yet, but he was aware that they needed somewhere to live after being pardoned and by having them here, he was speeding up the whole forgiveness process. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by a loud ding coming from the elevator.

"Hey, Mr. Stark! You'll never believe what Marie just asked me to do. It's hilarious, she's awesome. So, basically she-" Peter stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of the other Avengers. He began sweating enough to fill a river.

"O-oh, uhm, hi! I, uh, didn't know you guys were, um, here? I mean, I totally knew that you- that you guys were  _here_ , in the tower, just not like, uhm, here, on this floor, which is floor 69. The 69th floor. Floor after 68. The floor for those whose destination is the 69th. Um," Peter's eyes darted from one side of the room to the other. "My names, uh, Peter?" 

Clint raised his eyebrow and snorted. "You sure about that, kid? You don't seem so certain that's your name."

"Uh, yeah, it- it is! My name, that is. Peter. Peter Parker. Ah, uh, hi? Oh and, oh my god, you're actually Hawkeye, that's so cool, um! I'm acting totally not cool, I, um, sorry, ah!" Peter gave the team a really small, awkward chuckle. Natasha turned to Tony.

"Tony, who is this sassy, lost child?" she asked.

"He's Peter, my personal intern. When he's not busy having a mental breakdown at the fact he's in front of a group of superheroes, he's actually really fun. He follows me like, everywhere, so you all better get used to seeing him around." Tony stated, matter-of-factly.

"So... what does he do?" Sam asked, not entirely sure if he should trust this child. Something about him felt... off.

"Again, mostly just follows me around. Helps me out in the labs, does homework, keeps good company. It's nice having a fresh presence who's someone who actually understands what the fu-frick I'm talking about when I'm making side comments about my latest piece of tech."

"I'm 15, Mr. Stark, you don't need to censor yourself. I hear worse at school." Peter looked up at his mentor.

"Oh, I know. It was for Captain No-Profanity over there. Don't tell anybody else, but he can't deal with the words of the swear. But keep it on the DL, okay?" Steve slapped Tony's shoulder while Peter and the rest of the team (including Tony) broke out laughing.

"Well, if no one's doing anything, I'm gonna go play something. You got Mario Kart, Stark?" Clint, after recovering from his fit of laughter, asked.

"Yeah, who do you take me for? Pete, go show the bird-brain where it is and get stuff set up while I get the others settled in. Oh, and un-invert your controls while you're at it. You don't need it like that while they're here." Tony began to led the others to the elevator, and Clint put his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Looks like it's just me and you, squirt! Let's go get that fucker fired up, eh?" Peter grinned and nodded, running after the bird-themed Avenger.

Ooh, things were just getting started.

 


	2. Overexcitement

"Okay, so, some ground rules. I'm  _always_  Waluigi. No matter what. Got that?" Peter clicked the on button and side-eyed Clint.

"Awh, man, really? But I love Waluigi!" Clint pouted.

"Well, too bad. Waluigi is mine." Peter huffed and grabbed his wii-mote, along with one of the spares. He tossed it to Clint over his shoulder with suspicious accuracy, but Clint didn't seem to notice or care. Clint caught it, and looked down at the thing with confusion.

"Why didn't you just hand me that one?" Clint pointed at the remote on the side.

"'Cause that one's Mr. Stark's. We all have our own remotes with our preferred settings on it. It originated with the fact that I always had mine on invert, so everyone got really frustrated with accidentally picking up mine and you know... having inverted controls." Peter shrugged. "But then Rhodey spilt lemonade on his and Mr. Stark insisted that Rhodey had to deal with the consequences of his actions and forced him to play with it. It just sorta became a thing after a while."

Clint nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. Also, why are your controls always inverted?"

"I like to play upside down." Peter launched himself onto the couch and flipped himself so his head was over the edge. "See?"

"O-kay. You do you." Clint joined him on the sofa. They each chose their players; Peter chose Waluigi (obviously), and Clint grumbled and went with Isabelle. After a long debate over which map they should chose, Peter selected 'Random' and let the game decide, much to Clint's dismay. 

After a long, grueling 32 races, Peter was announced the winner. Clint threw his remote.

"What?! How?? I am the Mario Kart KING. How was I defeated by a 12 year old?? Why was I defeated? Is this because I was using tilt controls? I bet it was, you cheater!" Clint attempted to tackle Peter, but Peter sensed it and rolled out of the way. Clint began to chase Peter around, but with his superhuman speed, Peter easily outran him, and quickly hid.

"Okay, where are you, kid?" Clint called out. He jumped in surprise when a voice echoed out from behind him.

"You lost my intern? How? I thought you were playing Mario Kart?" Tony crossed his arms. The rest of the team trickled in. Clint spluttered and waved his hands around.

"He won? And totally cheated? So I started chasing him and he's just? Gone??" Clint ended his frantic explanation with a hesitant shrug.

Tony sighed. "Pete, get out of there. I don't want you getting stuck again. Besides, that's Clint's thing." Peter dropped out from the vents above the group, and fell flat on his face. He lifted himself off of the ground.

"Heyyy, Mr. Stark!" Peter waved and gave a nervous smile. Tony just tapped his foot, and everyone gazed in confusion at the exchange.

* * *

"I still don't trust him. He sounds ridiculously familiar. Besides, I'm pretty sure Tony has never considered a personal intern _ever_?" Sam sipped his drink, and Bucky nodded at his statement.

"Yeah, and Tony is really comfortable around him. From what I've heard, he usually doesn't like kids?" Bucky shook his head. "But, what do I know. I've never really gotten to know him before."

"No, you're right. Tony is  _way_ too friendly with him. I've only ever seen him act that way with Rhodey and Pepper." Natasha, who had been leaning on the wall a way away, said while walking over.

"Maybe Peter is Tony's illegitimate son?" Clint butted in. "He acts just like Tony, albeit a lot friendlier and happier. They also look kinda similar. Perhaps Tony found out about him while we were on the raft, and they've had some father-son bonding time? They sure do act just like a father-son duo, too."

"That... makes a lot of sense, actually. We should ask Rhodey. He would know, out of all of us."

* * *

Rhodey was busy reading a magazine when the gaggle of heroes burst in. They immediately crowded around him.

"Is Peter Tony's illegitimate son?" Clint blurted out. Now, Rhodey was one of the few people who knew exactly who Peter was, and how Peter had grown on Tony ever since their first meeting just before Germany. He smiled, internally laughing at how Tony and Peter really do act like father and son, and why his teammates would think that. Alas, Rhodey knew that he couldn't just  _tell_ them, so he replied with the most boring answer he could think of.

"Sorry to break it to you, but he's just an intern. I know, I thought he was more when I first met him, too."  _And he was- he turned out to be a superpowered teen who could probably launch the lot of them across the room if he wanted to._ Rhodey looked back down, unwilling to look at their disappointed faces.

"Alrighty then. Thanks anyways, Rhodes!" They all expressed their gratitude for his help, and left him be.

 

Hoooooh boy. This was going to be fun when they eventually found out.

 


	3. Heir nen euro

Peter was walking around the kitchen when he found a coin on the floor. It sparkled and was suspiciously placed just out of eyesight, but Peter ignored that fact. He just picked it up and smiled. Of course, even with his enhanced senses, the idiot couldn't seem to notice the 4 superheroes currently stalking him, waiting to see his reaction.

 _"Let's see if his thought process is at all similar to Tony's."_ Clint had suggested. The other three seemed hesitant but willing to try it either way. 

"Ees nanarro..." Peter held back a giggle, and purposefully dropped it. "Hoh!"

Kicking it aside, he began screaming. Tony immediately burst into the room and took Peter by the shoulders.

"What‽ Kid, what's wrong?? Speak to me!" Tony was frantic. But then Peter started laughing his head off, and Tony released his hold on his shoulders, let his expression fall, and left the room, unimpressed. Three of the heroes looked at eachother with mild confusion, and Natasha just sighed.

"It's a reference, you morons. It's from a belgian advert."

Peter whipped his head around to face the source of the noise. He stared at them, wide-eyed. Three of the four figures standing before him shifted uncomfortably on their feet, and the fourth simply rolled her eyes. Natasha shot a seemingly apologetic look at Peter, and started to walk away.

Peter moved his gaze to the other three, who were just standing there like a bunch of lemons. As the silence crept onwards, the air grew thicker and thicker, and it felt as if you could cut it with a knife. Peter never broke eye contact. Stark had told him that if he wants answers, ever, he's gotta hold his own and show that he's not going to back down. That is, unless someone might get hurt. Peter would stop immediately if that became a possible outcome. However, this was not the case, and the situation snowballed into a larger problem that it had been when Natasha left. He lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms, trying to make himself look as intimidating as possible. And, surely it was working! They all looked so uncomfortable and awkward...

Unfortunately, Peter trying to be intimidating is about as scary as a tiny puppy growling. The reason Clint, Sam, and Bucky all looked so uncomfortable was because they had no idea how to react to the short, adorable teenager attempting to scare them. So, hoping the whole thing would eventually dwindle, they stayed silent. Of course, that didn't work, so Sam started the conversation bound to happen.

"That was not the reaction we expected." Sam deadpanned, unsure of what else to say. Peter seemed taken aback by this response.

"What _were_ you expecting??" Peter spluttered out.

"Something more like how Tony would've reacted, such as looking down at the coin and putting it in the cabinet with the plates. He, uh, always does that, for some reason. We were checking to see if any of his weird tendencies rubbed off on you, somehow." Sam shrugged and backed away slightly. "There's no reason to get your tits in a knot."

And with that, cue everyone in earshot literally dying from laughter.

* * *

Peter had no idea what to make of the previous events. And now, he had to go eat dinner with all of them. Fun.

Sitting down, Peter started shovelling the food into his face as quickly as he physically could, before multiple of the adults sitting at the table chided him for eating so fast. Peter slowed to a more human pace, but he was still ravenous, and continued to feast. Rhodey started up the conversation- this was the first team dinner they'd had since...

"So, how have your days been?" Rhodey put his fork down, awaiting a reply. Since everyone else seemed to have their mouths stuffed, Peter answered him.

"It was cool! I found this coin in the kitchen earlier, though. It is anyone's?" Peter held up the quarter. Clint, as subtle as he could given that the piece of currency was in the air, grabbed it and grumbled, displeased with how everyone turned to look at him.

"Ah! I just remembered. Peter, you're still in school, right? Where do you go?" Steve looked genuinely curious.

"I go to Midtown Highschool of Science and Technology!" Peter smiled, adding another forkful of food into his mouth.

"Oh. And, where is that?" Steve inquired, still not sure.

"Queens." Peter grunted out between his teeth, attempting to speak with the contents of his face hole still not cleared.

Something about his tone, however, caused Steve to snap into a hard boiled, deep sensation of déjà vu. He sat there for a good couple of seconds before replying "okay," and continuing to try and think of  _where in the actual HECK has he heard that before?_

Peter seemed to notice his mistake, too, as he pulled his head down to his plate and began to brood.

The whole team became confused, but continued talking anyways, albeit Peter and Steve stopped contributing to the conversation altogether.

Whoops!

 


	4. T H O R

Steve's mind was screaming at him. He could not, for the life of him, figure out why Peter's one-word response had set him off like that. But now, everything in his body was yelling at him to keep an eye on him, to not put  _any_ trust in him. Steve wanted to look at the child and see just that- a child. But now that he  _knew_ there was something lying deep beneath the surface, he couldn't help but begin to notice.

And, all of a sudden, seeing all the things he'd previously missed hit him like a slap in the face. He scolded himself, because how didn't he notice the way Peter always flinched slightly just before Clint threw a pillow at him? How didn't he notice how impossibly strange it was that Peter dodged the soft projectile? The child also ate way too much- something Steve had originally brushed off as Peter being a growing teenager. But now that he was paying attention, he saw that the so-called intern ate enough to sustain even him, which was way too much for a normal human being to consume.

On top of that, whatever was going on, Tony knew. Tony fed Peter all that food, he just had to know. Hell, Tony went into a pseudo mother hen mode every time Peter didn't "eat enough", despite knowing exactly how much the kid had eaten that day. Steve came to the conclusion that Peter probably had an enhanced metabolism of some sort, and his theory was confirmed after seeing Peter get a small papercut and the wound being gone after an hour (and, if you asked either of them or Friday, they'd reject the statement, claiming that Peter hadn't gotten the cut in the first place). Steve couldn't help but wonder- what was an enhanced individual doing interning for the Tony Stark?

Now, the real question was _how_? How had the person Stark had chosen to be his personal intern just so happen to be enhanced? How did Peter even get this way? How slim were the chances that he'd be bothenhanced and Tony's intern? How and why were they hiding it from the team?

What did Peter do with his abilities?

Steve knew better than to bring this up with anyone just yet, so he kept to himself...

* * *

Peter felt so incredibly stupid. What kind of idiot almost outs themself like that? And the look on Steve's face-  _god_ , he knew, didn't he? He buried his head in his hands, unable to comprehend just how much of a moron he is. Mr. Stark had even looked at him and shook his head before smiling and ruffling Peter's hair like he usually did. Why wasn't he worried? Didn't he know that Steve knew his secret, and now he could tell everyone and no one could stop him?

When Steve had asked about that paper cut he'd gotten an hour ago, Peter's heart had stopped right in his chest. His face had paled, and he'd managed to stutter out a "what?", but he needed Tony to help him out too. _God, how pathetic! Stupid, stupid stupid._

Before his mind could go any further, however, his brooding was interrupted by a loud crash. Curious, Peter peered out of his bedroom door, just to see actual  _Thor_ , and  _Loki_ , and  _holy fuck, is that Bruce Banner_??

The group of three seemed to notice his gaze, and they turned to look at him. Well, no use hiding now. Peter opened his door fully, and revealed himself, oversized sweater and all. Bruce seemed the most surprised, whereas Loki seemed uninterested and Thor confused.

"U-uh, hi! My name's Peter. I'm uh, Mr. Stark's intern. It's nice to meet you all!" Now  _this_ caught Loki's attention.

"What? Young mortal, do you know who we are? How can it be 'nice' to meet us? And, are you not unnerved by the presence of not one, but two gods in your vicinity?" Loki tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "You seem... less than surprised to see us..."  
"O-oh! Well, you see, I'm more just focused on not com-completely mucking up my introduction because, you know, first- first impressions are everything, right? Also," Peter paused, "how can it not be nice to meet someone? It's another potential friend! No matter who they are. It is nice to meet you, Loki of Asgard!" Peter held his hand out.

Reluctantly, Loki took Peter's hand and smiled. The green-clad god looked like he was about to cry. "It's... it's nice to meet Loki?"

"Of course!" Letting go of Loki's hand, Peter turned to the other two figures standing beside him. He looked straight at Bruce, and took in a deep breath.

"Oh. My. God. Pun not intended." Peter had stars in his eyes. "You're-"

"The Hulk, I know," Bruce replied, distant.

"-the most renowned scientist of our generation!" Peter began listing off all of Bruce's greatest achievements, marvelling over the hero before him. Bruce didn't even try to hold back his tears.

"Th-thanks." Bruce sniffled. Thor looked down at the kid standing before him.

"Hello, Peter, was it? It is a great pleasure to meet you!" Thor boomed and gave his big, signature grin. However, Peter tensed.

He heard slowly-approaching footsteps.

* * *

The team hurried to the source of the crash. Tony was panicking, although none of them knew why. Upon arriving, well, catching sight teammates they hadn't seen in about two years and an old enemy was certainly  _not_ what they expected. 

What was even more surprising was that one was crying and another was fairly close to it. The crowd stood in silence for a while.

"What... happened?" Clint spoke up first.

Loki stared at Clint, eyes watery, and said "It's nice to meet Loki??" at the same time Bruce replied with "Someone knows me for  _me_...". Thor just waved, oblivious as ever.

"Jesus fuck. Kid, only you, only you..." Tony sighed, resigned. He moved his eyes to Bruce. A smile spread across his face.

"Hey Bruce. Long time no see. What's up?" Tony asked the shy scientist gently.

"It's been good. This child- he is your intern? He seems very nice." Bruce wiped the water off of his face. "It's really good to see all of you again. I missed you. The other guy did, too."

"That's nice. How about we go talk and explain and exchange stories somewhere more comfortable? We can all get a cup of tea, or something." Sam gestured for them to move. The rest of them agreed.

...

Steve forgot his worries about Peter, his mind deeming the reunion a bit more important.


	5. mew-mew ;)

Sam would be lying if he said that Peter didn't unsettle him. The kid seemed to just... always be there. Not only that, but he also seemed to always know who's in the room. He's caught Clint trying to sneak up on him multiple times, and to get a "oh, hi, Clint" in response, the child not even looking up from what he was doing. It left him feeling uneasy, to say the least.

Sam would very much love to think that Peter was Tony's son, and that was all, but Sam knew otherwise. There was just too much unexplained about the kid. Peter always seemed to sense people, he perked up at the slightest of noise, he ate  _way_ too much, and his voice...  _god_ , his  _voice_. Sam  _knows_ he's heard it somewhere before, but he just can't put his finger on it. And, boy howdy, does that bother him.

So, yeah. As much as Sam would love to believe that Peter was only Tony's illegitimate son, he knew there was something else, too. Something that sent chills down Sam's spine that he just couldn't ignore. And, sure, he'd tried getting the answer from Rhodey, but whatever it is, Rhodey knows and won't tell him.

Not to mention, the incident with Thor, Loki, and Bruce. How could one child make all three act like that? He's fooled all of them, probably even Rhodey and Tony, too. The kid was doing something to all of them, and they weren't even aware of it.

Sam's mind spiraled further down than he intended. Perhaps Peter wasn't even Tony's son- he was just doing things to them to lead Tony and all of them to think that he was, in fact, Tony's son! Or maybe...

The spell was broken by Clint's rather unwelcome entrance. 

"What's up, bird bro? I can totally see those cogs turning in your head. Something wrong?" Clint raised his eyebrow. Sam simply shook his head.

"No, idiot. I'm just thinking that Tony's kid is, well, fairly untrustworthy." Sam frowned. "I think he's fooling us all. He's gotta be, I dunno, some sorta master manipulator or something. I mean, he made  _Loki_ cry! Of all the people, he managed to somehow reach out and touch the literal god of mischief's heart. There's no way it wasn't intentional."

At this, Clint simply burst out laughing. "Do you seriously think Peter has  _any_ malicious intent whatsoever? The kid hasn't got a bad bone in his body! You could probably punch him and he'd apologise to  _you_ for getting in the way of your fist! Also," Clint paused, looking up and thinking for a moment, "we ought to go meet with the others. I mean, it was your idea in the first place. They're most likely ready by now."

Sam nodded hesitantly. Yeah, that made sense.

* * *

Peter sat, practically vibrating next to Thor. Could you believe it?  _Thor_! Peter knew he couldn't. Although, Thor seemed to be missing his iconic long hair. At least he still had his hammer that no ordinary person could pick up. And,  _holy shit!_ The hammer appeared to have a bunch of spiderwebbing cracks all over it-- wow! How did that happen?  _I thought it was indestructible_! Peter was too busy fanboying to notice the room beginning to fill up. So much for spidey-sense, because he still jumped when the conversation started.

"Okay, so let's start with the biggest question. Where were you guys? Not him," Tony pointed to Loki, "I don't care where he was. Why didn't you guys come back?"

"In space. Thor and I met on the planet I was on, after his hammer was shattered." Bruce fiddled with his fingers. He could tell them about the whole killing people thing at a later date. Peter couldn't help his bewildered expression, though.

"The hammer was... shattered?" Peter recoiled, as if his own words had hit him. I just didn't sound right! The hammer was right there, after all. Tilting his head, he continued. "It's just kinda damaged? It certainly doesn't look shattered to me."

"We fixed it. My niece broke it, as one does when you're the goddess of death." he deadpanned. The group all stared at him, baffled with Thor's statement.

"You have a niece?" Tony finally piped up. "And, she breaks very indestructible things? How, and why, may I ask??"

"Well, Loki's children have a habit of being a bit... well, you know..." Thor shrugged. "Destructive. I mean, one can only imagine what they'd have done had Loki not told them off for obliterating one too many items."

Loki glared at his brother, warning him not to share any more. Unfortunately, Peter already knew about all of this.

"Oh, oh! You have three children, right? Hela, Fenrir, and Jörmungandr, right? And, Sleipnir! Isn't there one more...?" Peter smiled at the group's shocked expressions. "I've read  _loads_ of Norse mythology, and I know that not all of it is correct, but those are your offspring?" 

Loki just nodded, not wanting to explain further. He silently pleaded for Peter to say no more. Luckily for him, Peter assumed that he didn't want any more information shared, so Peter kept his own mouth shut.

"Oooookay, we're just going to ignore that. So, is the hammer still judgemental?" Tony raised an eyebrow as Peter got up and left, claiming that he just needed to refill his orange juice.

Thor chuckled, and motioned for Tony to try. Tony clapped his hands together and readied himself to lift it. He gripped the handle of the hammer, and braced himself. Then, lifting with all his might, he pulled the hammer and flew backwards, his hands slipping. Falling down, everyone laughed. Peter reentered, holding an empty orange juice carton and his empty glass.

"Hey, the orange juice is all..." Peter took in the sight around him. "What happened?"

"Why, young Peter, Stark simply tried to lift my hammer, that is all!" Thor boomed.

"Oh. But isn't it like, super heavy? So only people with super strength can lift it?" Peter inquired.

"No, Peter, you have to be wor-" Clint was cut off by a very curious Natasha.

"No, boy, it's not based on strength. It's actually really light- Tony's just a wimp. Go ahead and lift it, why don't you?" Nat smirked. Now  _this_ would be interesting.

Peter took a deep breath and gripped the handle just like Tony had moments ago. Not expecting it to be as light as it was, he fell backwards and let go of the hammer, said weapon crashing into a table a couple meters away.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry Mr. Thor! I'll go get it, oh my gosh!" Peter ran over to where the hammer lay, next to the now-broken table, and sprinted back. He held out the hammer for Thor to take. When he didn't, Peter began to notice how everyone was staring at him. Steve whispered something under his breath.

"He's worthy..." Had Peter not had super hearing, he wouldn't have picked up on it. However, he did, so he turned to look at the star-spangled super soldier.

"What?"

"You can lift Mjolnir! You are worthy, young Peter!" Thor grabbed the hammer, along with Peter's hand, and held it high in the air. Thor sent a blinding smile to the child. Peter couldn't help but return it.

"I'm worthy! I don't know what that means!" Peter cheered.

* * *

"You're right. There is definitely something up with him." Clint confirmed while playing Mario Kart with Sam.

"I know, right? He's just too-"

"I mean, he's just  _got_ to be Tony's son! No one can be that oblivious! But also, he can't be, because Stark can't produce something so pure and innocent!" Clint exclaimed, sending a blue shell to Sam, who happened to be in first.

"I'm... no, Clint, he's definitely something more..." Sam cursed loudly as he failed to avoid his blue-coloured demise.

"Nope. Definitely his son. It's just gotta be with someone really, really good, y'know? Someone who's like, the most pure of heart of all." Clint fist-pumped when he finally overtook Sam. Sam swore so much that Steve suddenly felt the need to berate someone for their vulgar language, and he wasn't even on the same floor as the bird-themed heroes. The race ended, and Sam's previous concerns were washed over with the sinking feeling of defeat.

Oh, well...


	6. Verbs

Peter was struggling to get his suit on. Of course, it shouldn't have been too hard to get himself into it, with the loose, silky material practically slipping on with ease. However, Peter, being the clumsiest human on earth and also in a rush, was now tied up and figuring out how he was in the suit with half of it being inside out, and how he was going to get out of it. He pulled his leg out, only for himself to realise that the fabric was somehow wrapped around his leg in a way that really shouldn't even be possible. He slid the limb back in as to not muck things up more, and pulled his other leg out instead. Simultaneously, he removed his arm from the red and blue prison. He doesn't know how this happened.

Hopping on one foot, he approached the window and when everything was in the right place, he tapped the spider on his chest, slid his mask on, and exited the tower. The big-ass ostrich lizard thing wasn't going to defeat itself, and Peter needed to go help the Avengers get civilians out of harm's way.

He swung on by, Karen connecting him to the comms. Landing on the site of destruction, he guided people away from the bird, awaiting any further instruction.

"Spider-man! Nice of you to join us!" Tony grunted as he got hit by the thing's wing.

Peter knew better than to reply with a snide remark, so he stayed quiet. He perched in the top of a building and finally got a good view of the monster.

It was pink and fleshy, big, gross, yellow-y lumps protruding from its body in every way. It had membraned wings, and had a long, scaly tail. It looked less like an ostrich and more like a naked rat with a long neck, legs, a beak, and wings. Feathers covered its body in patchy patterns. Veins defined its every feature, and it's eyes seemed to be leaking-

"Eughh, what  _is_ that coming from its eyes!" Peter exclaimed, disgusted.

"I have no idea, but it's fucking gross as shit." Sam replied, deadpan. "Also, Peter, how and why the hell are you on the comms?"

"I'm, uhh, just watching from the tower, is all." Peter responded.

"Okay, then. This is used for us fighting, so please get off."

"Sure, ha." Peter jumped from his resting spot and got closer to the monster.

"Underoos, can you do the thing you did to Scott at the airport but to the ostrich? We've got all civilians out of the way." Tony yelled.

"Sure can do!" Peter said, lowering his voice so as to not give himself away. He tied the creature's long, ratty, disproportionate legs up and watched with a smile as it fell. The smile instantly widened when he heard a disgruntled shout in his ear.

"God-fuckin- _damnit_! Gross, man!" Sam wiped himself down, the thing's slobber covering him.

"Language." Came Steve's whisper not soon after. Everyone heard and broke out laughing.

* * *

Peter tried to excuse himself from the group after. Key word there: tried. Thor was insistent that Peter stay and celebrate their victory with them, and Peter could all but stutter out an "okay". Peter just blindly followed Thor, gaping at the man before him with childlike wonder. He was that was with all of the Avengers for a while.

"Yoo, Spidey- whaddup!" Clint shouted, and held his drink in the air. "Nice of ya to join us!"

"Yes, I managed to persuade the man of spiders to join us on this wondrous occasion." Thor boomed, grinning. "Now, let's get you something to drink."

Thor asked the bartender for two beers and offered one to Peter. 

"U-uh, no, I, uh, don't drink alcohol." Peter, after having made sure the voice modulator was on, replied. He stepped back from Thor.

"What? Why not? Are you a lightweight like the Man of Iron?" Thor teased, earning an offended " _Hey!_ " from Tony. 

"I-I think that, ah, Mr. St- _Tony_ is actually sober for other reasons." Peter looked down. Tony, who had noticed Peter's presence, stormed over to them. He seemed upset at both Peter being there and the Asgardian trying to hand the minor an alcoholic beverage.

"What on earth are you doing here? I thought I said- sorry,  _you_ said- that you were going to go home?" Tony crossed his arms and glared at Peter, the weight of his gaze causing him to cower slightly.

"But-" Peter started, but was immediately cut off.

"No buts! You need to go home!"

"Ah-ah-ah! Tony, your dad side is showing again!" Clint slurred.

Thor seemed dejected and Tony just ushered Peter away while flipping off a very drunk Clint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise i didnt abandon this lmao


	7. Hot Damn

Peter flung his head onto the table for the nth time with a worryingly loud smack. Despite the concerned looks the other Avenger were sending him, Tony seemed to be ignoring it so they tried their best too.

_Smack._

"Okay, Peter, what the fuck," Clint put down his phone. "That's literally the fourteenth time you've done that. What is wrong?"

Peter lifted his face from the pile of papers on the table and looked Clint dead in the eyes before groaning. "Why won't god just kill me." He let his head fall back onto the table with another thump. Tony still ignored the kid, but this seemed to pique the others' interests.

"What? Why would he do that? Peter, what is going on?" Steve stood up and left his book on the couch, and walked over to the glum teenager. He looked to Tony, displeased. "Tony, why aren't you responding to this?"

"Because he's just being over-dramatic. If something's actually wrong he'll hide it until it literally eats him from the inside out. If he tells you there's a problem it usually means he's looking for attention." Tony licked his finger and turned the page of the magazine he was reading. "Trust me. He's just bored."

Peter let out a long, strained noise that could only be described as a low squeal. Steve backed up a little.

"What's up..?"

Peter didn't move. He just grunted and left his head on the table. With a sigh, he finally responded, " _F_ _inals._ "

The entire team looked at each other uncomfortably.

* * *

Steve approached Tony cautiously. Things were still tender between them, and he didn't want to mess up their already fragile relationship. Still, he wanted answers, so here he was.

"Tony?" The man in question jumped, startled. The wrench he had been holding flew out of his hand and landed with a clatter on the floor. He placed a hand over his arc-reactor.

" _Christ_ , Steve, I have heart problems! Don't sneak up on me!" Tony picked up his poor, mistreated tool and placed it on the table.

"Sorry. I just want to talk to you about Peter, is all." Steve looked down, awaiting Tony's response.

"Okay. What's up?" Tony tilted his head to the side. Steve was clearly not expecting this response, as his eyes widened and he became nervous, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He took a breath, remembering to tread carefully, and continued.

"I've been paying close attention to him. Something about him reminded me of someone, and I've noticed a few, ahm,  _unusual_ habits." Steve gazed at Tony and searched for any physical sign that he was going too far.

"Go on."

"Well. He eats enough to sustain even me, which-" Steve was abruptly cut off by Tony's short and to-the-point reply.

"He's a growing teenager."

"-which would be somewhat normal and excusable, aside from the fact I saw him get a papercut which was absent not an hour later." Steve finished. "He's also very aware. Not socially, I mean. He misses a  _lot_ of social cues. I mean that he like, almost  _senses_ when something's happening, which is very weird. For some reason he notices when actual spies are trying to sneak up on him, which should be impossible."

"Oh. Yeah, that sounds about right. I knew someone would figure out he's Spider-man sooner or later." Tony sighed and looked back to his work. Steve was taken aback.

" _What_?!"

"Huh? You didn't know that?" Tony locked eyes with the super soldier, incredulous. "You just listed off like, half of his powers. Not to mention he's absolute shit at hiding his identity."

"No, I didn't! What the hell, Tony?" Anger seeped into his voice. "You brought a child into a war? What the actual hell! He could've gotten hurt, or worse, and you just let him go off out there putting himself in danger every day? How can you live with that? Because you've enabled this, if he dies, it's on you-"

" _I know!_ " Tony let the wrench fall out of his hand. "I know."

"Then why don't you stop him?" Steve crossed his arms.

"You think I haven't fucking tried, Steve? He's 15. He should be focusing on school and his future. I was desperate and everything around me was crumbling when I made the decision to recruit him, and, god, I tried to invite him onto the Avengers not long afterwards, because all of you were gone and I had practically no one! I wasn't in my right mind, Steve. He's young and I don't support child soldiers. But,  _fuck_ , I promise it's not like that. I tried taking the suit away and guess what, Steve? He got a fucking building dropped on him. He nearly died, and then it really would have been my fault because at least with the suit I've given him, he's a hell of a lot safer than he was. He's got protocols that alert me when he's hurt and a monitor that lets me see what he's doing. If he had died that night, it would have been because he was alone. Because he was stuck and no one was coming to help because no one had known to come and help. If he had died that night..." Tony frowned, trailing off.

"Tony," Steve started.

"No, Steve, you don't understand. He's my responsibility now. If I hadn't approached him during the civil war, then he wouldn't be, but I did. And I'd be lying if I said I don't regret it at times. But then I remember how much he means to me and how much he's bettered my life and I can't help but be a little selfish and be glad that I did approach him. Peter means the world to me, Steve, just like Pepper and Rhodey and... He's family now. It's my job to protect him. I won't fail to do just that, Steve. He'll be safe. I promise that much. I already have promised, to his aunt."

Steve had no real response. There wasn't much he could say to the man standing before him. His expression softened.

"I'm sorry, Tony, I didn't kn-"

"I think it's best if you leave, now, Steve."

"Ton-"

" _Now_."

And with that, Steve left.

* * *

 

Peter felt like absolute shit. He's been awake for 103 hours now and has consumed enough caffeine to kill three horses over the course of those 103. The world was spinning but he refused to sleep, opting to study instead. He hardly processed any of what he was reading. Friday kept bothering him, too.

"Mr. Parker, I am afraid that if you don't try to get some sleep soon or consume another cup of coffee, I'll have to alert Boss of this behaviour." Friday said, a concerned tone lacing her robotic voice.

"'M fine, Ms. Friday, promise. I'm just a little," Peter yawned, "tired, but not very. I have finals and I gotta study. Please don' alert Mr. Stark." Peter let out a breath.

"Mr. Parker, you are showing signs of extreme exhaustion. I suggest that you go lie down and sleep." Friday said. Peter gave in, and stood up to go to his room in the tower. While walking, though he overheard Tony speaking to what he thinks was Steve. He was too tired to understand any of it, and continued to his bed and crashed.

He didn't wake up for the next 21 hours. The team let him rest.

 


	8. Blood Red

Wanda seldom came out of her room. She and Bucky had been a lot more reclusive than the others, mainly because they weren't much for social interaction. Despite that, Bucky had still made an effort to socialise and adjust to life in the tower. She, however, didn't. There was a lot of things she'd done wrong and she wasn't sure how to approach them, nor did she know how to do right by them. Not to mention, her past trauma made it difficult for her to open up. Vision was really the only one who spoke to her nowadays, and she rarely even saw the rest of the Avengers. Apparently they had team dinners every night like they used to, where they told each other about their days. Loki, Thor, and Bruce were back. But she just couldn't imagine falling back into such normalcy again. 

She didn't think she was a good person. She'd done a lot of things wrong in her lifetime and she'd hurt a lot of people. Part of her wishes she could get over her past wrongdoings the way Loki had, but she couldn't. Loki had different reasons for the things he did, and really, he just did whatever the hell he wanted. She, on the other hand, caused so much collateral damage without meaning to. She did bad things, and when she tried to fix things, she made it all worse. So, she told herself it was best she stayed by herself. And, the Avengers respected her choice. They wanted her with them, of course, but they never pressured her into socialising. The only person she saw was Vision. So, it was a surprise when she heard a knock on her door, as Vision always came through the wall.

She stood up and walked to the door, confused. She unlocked it and was met with a young teenager with wide brown eyes looking up at her in awe. They stood staring at each other for a few seconds before the boy started frantically apologising.

"O-oh my god, I'm so sorry! I, I thought that- that this was Mr. Barton's room, I-I-I-I-I didn't- didn't mean to, ah, uh, disturb you, Ms., uh... Maximoff, um... how...are...you?" he shifted from one foot to the other, growing uncomfortable at Wanda's unresponsiveness. 

Wanda let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. She'd never met this boy before, but something about him seemed somewhat familiar. His discomfort and anxiety were radiating off of him like heat and wild, out of control and loud thoughts entered her mind.

_Oh my god!_

_She totally hates me!_

_MR. STARK IS GOING TO KILL ME OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD_

He seemed friendly enough, but a bit too nervous for his own good. She contemplated purposefully going into his mind, but decided against it, as she preferred not to use her powers much anymore.

"Who are you?" she asked bluntly. The teen cowered, seemingly saddened by her response. A " _s_ _he really doesn't like me, shit. Of course she wouldn't. Why would she, I totally invaded her privacy. She doesn't like it when people interact with her and she didn't initiate it! You know that, idiot! Mr. Stark is gonna kill me..._ " rung at the back of her mind. Whoever this child was seemed to be very loud in his thoughts, indicating that he was probably a loud, bubbly person when around the right people. 

"My name's Peter... I'm Mr. Stark's personal intern. He, um, sent me up her to get Mr. Barton, but I must have heard his directions incorrectly. I don't know why he didn't have Friday just direct me, or better, tell Mr. Barton to come himself! Um..." Peter looked at the floor and continued. "I'm really sorry for bothering you. I'll go now. Sorry."

Wanda watched curiously as Peter turned to leave, walking in the wrong direction. She, deciding her next move on impulse, called out after him. 

"Friday doesn't operate on this floor unless there's an emergency."

Peter whipped around, eyes wide. They were watery.

"Wh-what?" He stuttered out, confusion colouring his features.

"Stark has it so Friday doesn't operate on the floors where people sleep in order to avoid disturbing people. She only speaks if there's an emergency. That's why he sent you and it's why you got lost." Wanda leant against her door.

"O-oh. Thanks, Ms. Maximoff. I didn't know." Peter dipped his head, and looked into her eyes expectantly before realising she probably wasn't going to respond.

"Wanda." She blurted out. "You can call me Wanda. I'm in my twenties, you do not need to address me with any of that 'Ms. Maximoff' bullcrap. And do not apologise so much. You made a mistake, and it's okay."

And with that, she turned and shut her door behind her, leaving the star-struck intern gaping in the hallway before she faintly heard a " _yes! I didn't fuck it up!_ " from the kid's thoughts. She smiled.

* * *

"So then she told me to call her Wanda! She doesn't hate me! Can you believe that, Mr. Stark?" Peter bounced up and down. "She's so much less scary when she's not throwing cars around."

"You can say that again. I must say it's not much of a surprise. She's usually rather calm around honest people, and you are automatically a very honest person because you can't lie for shit." Tony smirked when Peter let out an indignant shout at his last comment.

Then, Friday interrupted his train of thought.

"Wanda has told me that she will be joining you all for dinner tonight. She has claimed that if she has missed an entire intern all the time she's been here, she hasn't been out enough." Friday had a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Wait, I thought Friday didn't operate on that level?" Peter inquired.

"She still listens. You can tell her to do things, she just won't respond. It's like if I ask you to get a set of pliers, and you just get up and do it without saying anything."

"Oh. Well, I'm glad Ms. Maximoff is coming out of her room. Personally, just  _thinking_ about being holed up in my room all day makes me feel depressed." Peter stated.

"Yeah, me too, kid, for the most part. It'll be nice to have the _whole_ team there for once."

 


	9. I'M SPIDERMAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: the title of this chapter is extremely misleading

Peter couldn't feel his fingers. He was shaking like a leaf, and he really just wanted to go home.

His gaze flitted from one Avenger to another, nervous. This was kinda his lifelong dream and if you told 7-year-old him that he'd be having dinner with the Avengers who happened to be in the midst of a casual conversation, he would have exploded with excitement. But here he was, terrified because anxiety is a bitch and he has everything to hide.

Steve kept looking at him like he had two heads, and Wanda seemed to be confused with what he was doing. After the previous conversation had died down, Steve spoke up.

"So, Peter, how'd you and Tony meet?" Steve narrowed his eyes, like he was angling for a certain answer.

"I-uh-I-what?" Peter spluttered, thrown by the sudden attention.

"How'd you meet? It seems strange that Tony just went out and chose you to be his personal intern- are you sure there were no ulterior motives?" Steve studied Peter's reaction intensely, causing said teen to become increasingly uncomfortable. Tony seemed offended.

"I'm literally right here!"

"I wasn't asking you, Stark, I was asking the kid. But actually," Steve turned to him and smirked, "were there? Did you specifically seek Peter out for some reason?"

"You-" Tony held his fist up to his mouth, giving out an exasperated sigh. "You know full well there wasn't, Rogers. You're just being an asshole."

"No, I'm curious too. Is Peter, like, Tony's illegitimate son, or something?" Clint interjected, earning multiple warning glares.

"What?!" Tony and Peter exclaimed simultaneously.

"I'm just saying! You two are like, totally father and son. What's your deal?" Clint defended.

"Nothing! There is no deal! I found Peter because he was exceptionally smart and when I talked to him, I found I enjoyed his company! That's literally it!"

Peter simply played around with his food, hoping to drown out everything. The team's conversation got louder and louder, each person trying to get their word in, and Peter couldn't take it. He could hear everything, from the scraping of their forks on the china plates to each syllable of the conversation going on a few floors down. He screwed his eyes shut and covered his ears in order to block the world out. It didn't work.

* * *

Wanda missed this. Granted, she saw why she avoided it at all costs, but she missed it nonetheless. It was nice hearing her friends getting along like they used to. She knew they were purposefully ignoring the previous hardships in order to try and rebuild what they once had, and she really respected them for that. Not only that, but she liked how it felt like nothing had even happened. She wasn't very good at handling change.

She resisted the urge to cover her ears when the meaningless and playful arguing got a bit too loud for comfort, but noticed that someone else did not as she spotted them raise their hands to their ears. She looked over at Peter, who seemed miserable. He was very clearly overwhelmed and overloaded. His hands dug into his hair and his knuckles were white with the grip he had on his head. Wanda peered slightly into the poor child's mind to try and understand what was going on with him and was immediately met with a barrage of frantic, pained thoughts.

_Oh god, why are they so LOUD_

_Please, O' Lord, shut them the fuck up_

_I hate you I hate you IhateyouIhateyouIhateyouIhateyouIhateyoushutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup_

_PLEASE_

_Shut up!_

_I'M MOTHERFUCKING SPIDER-MAN, why is this bothering me and--_

_Fuck, shit, fucking fucktard bastard shit. Why the FUCK is it so FUCKING LOUD why can't they just SHUT UP_

_SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP_

"Shut up!" Wanda screamed, effectively silencing everyone. To her left, Peter's breaths came in shuddering gasps. "You don't need to be so loud."

Tony looked over to Peter and instantly noticed the state he was in, and escorted him away before anyone could really notice. Wanda just stared at her teammates and let out a sad sigh. "You guys have company that isn't used to how loud you can get. He's a quiet, brooding teenager. He's probably not used to so much noise at once."

Sam seemed confused. "That was about the kid? Where'd he even go?"

"Of course it was, moron? Did you not see the poor thing panicking over there?" Wanda pointed out. "You're all morons, present company excluded."

"Aw, Wanda. That is nice of you to-" Vision started.

"I was talking about myself, Vis, but sure."

* * *

"I cannot believe that 12 year old is fucking Spider-man." Wanda said to Vision as soon as they were alone in her room.

"Ah. Yes, I do understand the difficulty making the connection."

"God, Vis, I threw cars at him! He's 15!" she exclaimed, burying her face in her hands. Vision moved to her and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into an embrace. She returned it without hesitation. Vision carded a hand through her hair, soothing her. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, and pulled away. Vision held her face in his hands, and opened his mouth to speak.

"It's okay, Wanda. It was Tony's fault for bringing him into the fight in the first place. Besides- he held his own, didn't he?" 

"Yeah, I suppose he did." she responded as she looked down and held Vision's wrist, pensive.

"Then what's the problem? Now, come with me." Vision led Wanda out of the room and to her bed, seemingly excited.

...

"Vis, why is there paprika on my bed." Wanda deadpanned.

"You said we should spice it up a little in the bedroom, did you not? Is this not what you wanted?"


	10. Black, Like My Soul

"Kid, how do you want your coffee?" Clint looked over his shoulder at the intern.

"C-coffee?" Peter replied, confused. He wasn't allowed to have coffee. He went into cardiac arrest last time. He can just about get away with certain energy drinks, but he freaks the fuck out if he drinks too much at once.

"Yeah, you know, bean juice. It's morning. Caffeine is literally the gods' way of telling us they love us." Clint winked at the kid. "So, how do you want it?"

"Like my soul." Peter responded flatly, looking the archer dead in the eye.

"Alright- one cup of milk coming right up!" he said, stifling a laugh.

"Wh- hey!" Peter pouted, then glared at the hero. "That's not fair. I barely ever get coffee."

"Why?" Clint paused, unsure if he was allowed to make the child a cup.

"I wennnmenmemenmen." Peter mumbled unintelligibly.

"Excuse me?"

"I wennnmnn lanmmnmnsmn."

"Kid you're literally just humming. Speak actual words, please."

"I went into cardiac arrest last time." Peter fiddled with his fingers, but Clint just burst out laughing.

"Y-you wh-wha-at?! Oh my god!" Clint picked up his cup and walked into the other room, leaving the embarrassed teen be.

* * *

Peter cautiously stepped into the lounge. He looked to see who was there, and let out a breath of relief when he spotted Steve. Peter took a deep breath and walked forward, approaching the man with a purposeful demeanor.

"M-Mr. Rogers?" Peter looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, Peter?" he replied.

"Um, one of the interns at the tower- her name's Marie Labbe- asked me a while ago if she could meet you. I-I, uh, figured I'd wait and become acquainted with you first. But, um, she's on one of the lower levels and it's her birthday today so I thought maybe you'd like to come surprise her with me? She's a huge fan of yours." Peter rocked back and forth on his feet, preparing himself for the rejection he was so certain would come.

"Sure, Pete! You want to go right now?" Peter just nodded excitedly, shocked.

"Yeah! Yeah. Let's go. Uh, maybe, um, put your suit and stuff on and get your shield?"

* * *

 

Peter joined the super soldier and ambled into the elevator with him. Friday greeted them both, and asked where Steve was going.

"He's going down to one of the intern levels with me." Peter gazed upwards to where her voice was being emitted from.

"For Ms. Labbe?"

"Yeah. Do you know what level she's on?" he inquired.

"Yes. I'll take you there now."

The lift started moving and silence broke out between the two. Steve, after thinking long and hard for a few days, had finally decided he'd make his awareness of Peter's extracurricular activities known.

"You're not going to steal my shield this time, right?" Steve asked, nonchalant.

"Wh-wha-whawh-whghh-wha-y-you?!" Peter spluttered out, unable to form a coherent sentence.

The doors opened and Steve stepped out, smirking, leaving a dumbstruck Peter behind. After a moment Peter recollected himself and darted forwards to join Steve once more, still mildly uncomfortable but resigned to his fate.

* * *

"God, Peter, you're literally the best. I love you, thank you so much, you actual saint." Marie said, frantically expressing her gratitude to Peter.

"It's no problem. I'm glad you're happy."

"Happy? I'm ecstatic, dude! I don't know how you do it. Gosh..." Marie skipped back over to Steve, and Peter watched her go. For so long she'd told Peter how it was her one and only dream to meet Captain America, so he was glad that he could make that dream come true for her. He loved making people happy, though he was still having an existential crisis due to the fact that Steve apparently knew who he was.

He smiled, unable to stop the grin from stretching across his face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you comment suggestions, they'll probably make it into the story one way or another. i just don't respond to things very often bc it stresses me out to reply to everything. i love comments tho!! they make me feel all warm and fuzzy absajkjkddnd


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